Enzo was struggling in a
dark suffocating place with leaden limbs that were steadily being drained of
strength. He continued to fight, despite the powerful urge to sleep and allow
himself to drift deeper into that dark airless world.

He had no idea how he had
gotten there or why he was there for that matter, he just knew it was important
for him to escape. The last thing he remembered was …

The journey seemed to be
taking forever. His captor had left him alone for so long that Enzo lay down on
the cot and drifted off to sleep. Something caused him to come awake abruptly
and he found himself staring into those awful gold and ruby eyes. Before he
could move or cry out Raven covered his mouth with one hand. Enzo felt
something against his throat and the sensation of being pinched. He realized
what it was too late and struggled in earnest, grasping onto the front of
Raven’s shirt. The mercenary watched him without expression and the room began
to grow dark.

Enzo knew what the pinch
had been. A hypo.

Drugged, Enzo thought as he slipped deeper
into the void.

* * *

“Be careful, Lover,”
AndrAIa said from the vid-window, “We’ll be waiting.”

Matrix stood on the deck
of the Saucy Mare II and tuned out all the activity around him. Several members
of Gavin’s crew were loading his ship with supplies. As soon as Bob arrived,
they would pursue that kidnapping dog.

“Think you can hold out
until I get back?” Matrix asked.

AndrAIa placed one hand
on her swollen belly, “I’ll try my best. But he’s your son after all. He’s
impatient just like his father.”

“Take care of yourself,”
Matrix said. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” AndrAIa
said, “And you take care of yourself. Bring yourself up safe.”

“Ye be careful, lad. I’ve
heard of this Raven too and a more vicious beggar I’ve not heard of since.”

“I will, Gavin,” Matrix
said. “I’ll make certain that he suffers for what he did.”

Matrix decompressed his
zip board but just as he was about to hop on when there was a flash of light
and a gray mask hovered for a moment before Melissa materialized.

“Matrix,” she stepped
forward and kissed him quickly on the mouth, “That’s for Enzo.” Then she kissed
him on the cheek, “And that’s for you. Please bring him back to me.”

Matrix nodded once, “I
promise.” And the she-virus stepped away and was gone.

Bob joined him as he was
powering up his pride and joy. It was ironic really; this ship now belonged to
him, considering where he got it from and who it had previously belonged to.

“Ready?” Bob asked as he
took the seat beside him.

Yes,” Matrix said grimly,
“Where to first?”

“System 202,” Bob said,
“There’s someone there, an old contact of mine, may know something about this
Raven and where he is. Mouse also gave us a few names too that we’ll need to
check. We’ll have to be as discreet as possible so Raven won’t be alerted.”

Both he and Bob had
donned completely different outfits of non-descript brown shirt and trousers.
They were hoping the ‘official investigation’ would keep Raven distracted while
they went on their own secret search mission.

The ship lifted off
smoothly and with a hum of energy, the portal opened and they were gone.

* * *

Seven hours into the
past.

“Prime Guardian to the
Operations Center please.”

Bob was grateful for the
escape. Having spent the better part of the morning being cursed at and called
a traitor he left the Detention Center at the vid-call. He hoped it was good
news. His mind was already in turmoil over the happenings of the past few
seconds.

The memory of his fight
with Matrix was foremost in his processor. Bob still wasn’t certain how it had
happened. He supposed it was ironic that he had been thinking of doing the same
thing Matrix had wanted to do during the questioning.

The Operations Center was
the think tank for the Council Hall, where all the tech people did their thing.
It was where his friend Zif now worked and where the former Underground member
was happiest, immersed in his silicon chips and data files.

Work didn’t cease, even
when Bob entered, although his presence was immediately acknowledged. The
Operations center reminded him of the War Room back in Mainframe. All methods
of monitoring the Capitol were within the immense space.

Zif was standing before a
circular 3D weather map. He was shaking his head and muttering and did not look
happy at all. Bob was no meteorologist, but the image of black clouds hovering
just outside the city did not bode well.

“Prime Guardian,
welcome,” Zif said when he noticed him.

“Now Zif, you know better
than that. It’s Bob.”

“Don’t want to scare my
co-workers,” Zif motioned around the room. The former rebel had been shocked
when Bob had given him his own team of technicians and workers. “Thank you for
coming. I have some news that I believe will please you – and some that wont.”

“Reminds me of this girl
I once knew – a force of nature,” Zif said. “This is going to be a big one Bob.
It will start off with a few heavy thunderstorms. We won’t see the major stuff
for a few seconds, so right now, I’d like to have us officially on a watch.”

“There was nothing you
could have done. We all got pretty knocked around. I’m just glad Mina’s going
to be okay.”

“So am I. Give Katiyana
my regards.”

“Will do, Zif.”

Bob wasn’t certain if
Matrix had left for Mainframe yet, so he returned to his office and had Rule
page him. He was arranging for a transport to the hospital when a commotion
outside his office drew his attention. He recognized the yelling voice and
groaned inwardly.

“Stop, you can’t just
barge into the Prime Guardian’s office!” Rule stepped in front of his door, and
Captain Lynx pushed past her.

Several things happened
at once.

Lynx stepped forward and
yelled, “Prime Guardian!” Just as Rule raised her right arm and said, “Synch –
containment field.”

“Glitch – belay!” Bob put
his hand out and it sparked with power. Rule’s own keytool ceased its action.
“It’s all right Rule. Captain Syn, you owe my assistant an apology.”

“What?”

"Do you always
ignore what people tell you or do you only tune out Guardians?" Bob
snapped, "You're lucky she didn't contain you."

Lynx turned to Matrix; “I
see you both got out of the riot with minor injuries.”

“You seem to have
sustained little damage yourself,” Bob said. Besides a bandages on his face,
Lynx seemed to have no other injuries.

Matrix closed the door,
“What do you want here?”

“He do your talking for
you now, Prime Guardian?”

“Don’t start with me
Lynx,” Bob warned. “Are all your people safe?”

“As if you cared. We
could have used your help.”

“Excuse me? I was busy
trying to halt any further spreading of the commotion. I was more concerned
with my family being safe. You demanded that Hex and Melissa be brought before
you.”

“Are you saying the riot
was my fault?”

“I’m saying your actions
contributed to it,” Bob said, “No, don’t say a word. We’ll continue with the
meetings but they’ll be held within Council Hall and they will be open only to
a certain number of people. I will make certain all proceedings are made
public.”

“After you’ve made the
necessary changes to the records?”

“Captain Lynx,” Bob’s
temper began to surface, “Either you defer to my orders or the meetings will
cease altogether.”

“The people won’t stand
for that, Prime Guardian. Everyone is already terrified of this viral serial
killer that’s on the loose.”

“We don’t know what we’re
dealing with yet which is why I wanted to keep the information confidential
until we could obtain more concise evidence, but you’ve basically ruined that
haven’t you? Well Captain Lynx, what will it be?”

“Very well, prime
Guardian, but I will let the people know in my own way,” Lynx said, “And I will
inform you of all information I impart.”

“Fair enough,” Bob said.
“Now how are your people? Are they receiving the care they need?”

“Desdemona is in the
hospital right now, she was seriously injured. Most of my people managed to get
out of it with minor injuries,” Lynx sighed, “I heard about Ms. Matrix, is she
all right?”

“She is,” Bob said, “I’ll
tell her you asked about her.”

“When would there be a
convenient time for you to meet?”

“I’m not certain,” Bob
said. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the approaching hurricane? We’ll have to see
how that pans out.”

“Very well,” Lynx reached
into his belt and drew out a card, “This is where I can be reached.”

Bob nodded.

“Prime Guardian, Matrix,”
Lynx departed.

“Pixel-brain,” Matrix
muttered.

“I couldn’t agree with
you more. However, he’s reminded me that the Council hasn’t had a meeting in
over two cycles. When Katiyana --,” he broke off, “Oh but enough about that, I
have some good news for you. Your cybernetic eye is ready.”

Matrix’s good eye went
wide, “I don’t believe it! Finally?”

“Zif wants to know if
you’re still in contact with the person who placed the original cyber-eye.”

Matrix lowered his head
slightly, “He’s deleted.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Bob
said.

“Long story,” Matrix
muttered, “Bob--”

“Did Dot get back to
Mainframe okay?” Bob didn’t know why he had interrupted Matrix. He didn’t want
to discuss their fight yet.

“Yes,” Matrix said,
“AndrAIa’s waiting for me to take her back to the factory.”

“Better get going then.
I’ll have Zif try and get in contact with the other cyber-technicians he
mentioned. We’ll see if we can get someone here to perform the surgery ASAP.”

Matrix looked at him,
“Okay Bob.”

Bob sighed as the
renegade left. He hated to have to do that but there were other matters to deal
with now. He and Matrix would settle things in time.

Bob pressed the com
button on his desk, “Rule, get me Colonel Tempus.”

“Right away, Prime
Guardian.”

The armed forces would
need to be prepared for the upcoming storm, Bob sighed. He wasn’t going to
voice his thought of what else could possibly go wrong. A few nanos later, Rule
buzzed him.

“Why don’t you stay at
the factory with me?” AndrAIa knew Matrix had been feeling left out, wondering
what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Her Lover had made no
indication that he wanted to complete his Guardian training and become a
full-fledged Guardian. AndrAIa didn’t want to press him about it, knowing it
was his decision.

“Looks like you, Mouse
and Ray have everything covered,” Matrix said. “Anything new on SiRCe?”

“No,” AndrAIa said sadly.
She was deeply worried about her friend. SiRCe meant a great deal to her and
they had been through a lot together. “I have an idea, but I’m not sure of it’s
possible. It appears that whenever our enemy wants to travel they use a portal,
so since a portal is a unique type of energy, could a device be constructed to
trace that energy?”

“I was going to ask Dom
but Zif does has the facilities. I know keytools can identify tears and
portals; maybe the keytools can be adjusted to the frequency of each portal. I
wanted to talk to Katiyana about it when she got out of the hospital.”

“I’ll ask Zif when I go
back,” Matrix said.

“Maybe this is a good
time for you to talk to Little Enzo,” AndrAIa said. “Clear the air with him
too.”

“Yeah maybe.”

“Lover--”

“Dre, the kid is scared
of me. What am I supposed to do?”

“Find him in the one
place he can’t run away and talk to him. You know him better than anyone.”

“Talk to her too,
Sparky,” AndrAIa said, “You know, she’s not such a bad –

WARNING: INCOMING GAME

“Wow!” AndrAIa said, “Do
you know that’s the first game that’s fallen in cycles?”

“Yeah, weird, huh?”
Matrix said. “Guess we’d better take care of it.”

The factory was in sight
and the cube was coming down directly over it. AndrAIa could see dozens of
people scurrying to get out of its way. Matrix piloted the transport right
underneath the glowing lavender and silver field. Matrix landed the shuttle as
the game cube touched down.

The surroundings they
found themselves was that of an enclosed area, in the midst of a large city.
AndrAIa spied the unusual structures in the background. They were all standing
on a raised platform and hovering just at its edge was a brightly colored
blimp. AndrAIa had an uncomfortable feeling about what type of game it was.

“Not another fighting
game,” Matrix muttered and AndrAIa could tell he was ill at ease.

“Well look who’s here,” a
familiar voice came from behind them and both sprites turned and were equally
surprised to find Colonel Tempus approaching them.

“Colonel Tempus?” Matrix
asked

“It was a good thing I
was in the neighborhood,” Tempus smiled. “Are you the only two here? I was
afraid the Prime Guardian might have gotten in as well.”

“He’s back at the Hall,”
AndrAIa said.

“Matrix, AndrAIa!”

Another shock as Dom
approached.

“I tried to get out in
time,” Dom looked truly frightened, “I – I’ve never been in a game before.”

“Don’t worry Dom, we’ll
walk you through it,” AndrAIa smiled.

“Hey, down there!” Mouse
and Ray arrived, Mouse behind Ray on Baud. “Glad you two could make it.”

“We don’t have a Guardian
here,” Dom said worriedly. “How will we know--”

He halted and was looking
over Matrix’s shoulder. Someone else was approaching on a zip board.

“Is that Cooper Black?”
Matrix asked.

Sure enough it was. The
Guardian landed just a few feet away, “Colonel Tempus, I don’t appreciate your
following me,” Cooper said.

“To coin a phrase from
Hex,” AndrAIa muttered, “Now won’t this be interesting?”

“You disappeared rather
abruptly and no one knew where you were.”

“Now see here--”

“Hey!” Matrix interrupted
them both, “In case you haven’t noticed, the game characters are loading? I
suggest we Reboot, win the game and get the net out of here ASAP.”

“Of course,” Cooper
muttered, “Meta, game stats.”

After a few moments
Cooper said, “We’re in a tag team fighting game called Capcom versus Marvel.
There are two Users and we get to choose two characters at a time. We also have
a helper character that we can call every so often. A single character or a
combination of the team has to defeat both Users to win.”

“Easy enough,” Matrix
said, “Reboot!”

“I’m called Captain
Commando,” Cooper began, once they had all rebooted. “Matrix, you’re called
Hulk.” AndrAIa stifled a giggle. Ray opened his mouth to remark and Matrix
silenced him with a glare. “AndrAIa, you’re Morrigan, a succubus. Ray, you’re
called Gambit a mutant with explosive energy. Mouse, Chun-Li, a martial arts
expert, Colonel Tempus, your Venom, your suit has special powers, and Dom
you’re Megaman, a robotic hero.”

The game voice announced,
“Select Heroes.” And the User made their choice. One was muscular man with a
wicked looking sword and a blue costume with a red cape.

“Strider Hiryu.”

The second was a man in a
red and blue suit, which hid his identity, but also like Tempus, had a spider
design.

“Spider Man.”

“Matrix, you’re with me,”
Cooper said.

Matrix glared at him but
stepped forward. AndrAIa frowned; she preferred fighting with Matrix because
she knew his style, but now wasn’t the time to argue. While she watched Matrix
fight she began to wonder how both Tempus and Cooper came to be in this place.

Dom turned out to be
their helper and every so often, he would leap forward, get out a shot and leap
back. He was still afraid, but AndrAIa could see him getting into the game.
Finally Cooper and Matrix defeated both Users, Matrix most notably with an
interesting move called a Gamma Crush.

“GAME OVER.”

AndrAIa sighed, oh well
she didn’t get to fight. Although the character had been fascinating, the only
thing was during her whole time in that persona she had the urge to drag Matrix
to the nearest secluded spot and have her way with him.

“My word,” Dom smiled
after the cube lifted, “Almost makes me want to become a Guardian.”

Cooper immediately turned
to Colonel Tempus, “Stay out of my affairs from now on. It’s none of your
business what I do.”

“It is if you pose a
danger to the Guardian Collective,” Tempus said.

“Tempus, I’m going to
file a formal complaint with the Prime Guardian,” Cooper said, before hopping
on his zip board and flying away.

“You do that,” Tempus
said, “Twerp.”

“Just why were you
following him?” AndrAIa asked.

“You don’t know?” Tempus
asked.

“You think he’s the
informant for Web Alliance,” AndrAIa said.

“Don’t you?”

“He would be the most
logical choice,” AndrAIa frowned, “Although why he’d do that, I don’t know. I
mean, what does he have to gain by it?”

“Constables!” The
attention of all was turned to the binome that was running towards him. He was
one of the members of the new security force they had established for the
grounds. “You must come quickly!”

“What is it, what
happened?” Mouse demanded.

“Another disappearance!
It’s horrible!”

Mouse swore, “Who?”

“The woman, whose husband
and son were found deleted,” the binome said. “She has another son, just a
little toddler. He went missing while the mother was fleeing the game cube.”

“Are you certain he isn’t
just lost?” Tempus asked.

“We’ve been searching for
him since a little after the cube landed,” the binome continued as they
followed him. “There’s no trace of him.”

“Where can I call the
Capitol?” Tempus asked Dom.

“In the factory, come
with me,” Dom replied.

“I’ll get some of my
troops out here to help search,” Tempus said, “He probably is just lost in the
woods or something. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”

AndrAIa and the others
followed the binome on zip boards. Although she put the incident in the back of
her processor, there were still too many unanswered questions about the incident
between Cooper and Tempus. There was something seriously wrong with this image.
She’d ask Bob about it when they returned to the Capitol.

* * *

Catherine Lalto. Matrix
finally learned the name of the woman who had suffered so much. First the loss
of her husband and elder son and now her younger son was missing. Matrix had
seen much suffering in his travels and had suffered much, but he couldn’t begin
to imagine what this woman was feeling.

It was getting late, and the
groups of soldiers and civilians were still searching the woods. Bob and Ray
were still out with their search party and Matrix had returned to give a
progress report. He would go back out in a little while with his own group who
were resting up.

AndrAIa and Mouse sat on
either side of her. Matrix sat on the other side of the room listening in,
hoping for something that would give them all some idea of what might have
happened.

It could have been any
ordinary summer night. A slight breeze came through the open window, carrying
the scent of the coming storm. Matrix found no comfort in it.

“The game cube was
dropping,” Catherine was saying, “And I had him by his hand and my girl fell,
so I let him go to pick her up and --,”

She started to cry again,
and Mouse put her arm around Catherine’s shoulder. “It’s okay honey, we’ll find
him, I promise.”

“Well first off, you’re
going back to the Council Hall and you’ll be placed under protective custody,”
Mouse said. “We’re all going to keep searching until we find your little one.”

It was then that Matrix
noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Across the room, an open door,
the interior of the room cloaked in darkness but Matrix assumed it led to a
bedroom. Now standing against the doorframe watching him intently was a little
girl, no more than five hours old.

Catherine hadn’t noticed
her daughter yet, but AndrAIa saw her and glanced at Matrix. The girl continued
to stare forlornly at him. A knock at the door distracted them all. AndrAIa
went to answer it. It was Ray.

“My group needs to recoup
a bit,” he announced as he entered. “But I’m going to go back out. Bob’s
expanding the search. Your people ready, Matrix?”

“They should be,” Matrix
said and stood. He couldn’t help but glance back at the little girl and was
surprised to find tears streaming down her cheeks. Matrix didn’t know what to
do. So he mouthed, “It’ll be okay,” to her.

The girl suddenly rushed
towards him and before Matrix could react, she threw her tiny arms around his
left leg. She barely came up to his thigh.

“Shell,” her mother said,
“Don’t bother Mr. Matrix.”

For a moment there was a
tense silence in the room. The girl looked up at him with wide innocent eyes
and said, “Please don’t let them take me too.”

Matrix cast AndrAIa a
helpless look. Then his attention went back to the girl. Reaching down, the
renegade lifted her up into his arms and she laid her head on his shoulder. “I
won’t let anyone take you anywhere, if it’s within my power.”

“Glad all your hard work
paid off, old boy,” and he was glad. Chaos had as much at stake as Quicksilver
did.

His fellow viral assassin
held up the small vial, “Well SiRCe, congratulate me.”

The woman stood in a
shadowed spot in the room. She didn’t speak. Her eyes were pale green without
pupils and her skin had taken on a sickly yellow-green hue, the only indication
of Quicksilver’s infection,

“She’s no fun,” Chaos
said. “She’s still mad because she has to kill the red-haired wench.”

“And she will do that
posthaste,” Quicksilver said. “Now my dear Chaos, it is your turn, tale this to
our operative.”

Chaos accepted the vial,
“For the Glory of Daemon.”

“Yes,” Quicksilver said,
“Take SiRCe with you so she may complete her task. Once she is finished bring
her back here. Then we will destroy this warehouse to hide the evidence.”

“What about the child?”

Quicksilver looked over
to where the toddler slept soundly within the containment field. “When you
return, dispose of him. Send him back to where you got him.”

“And then?” Chaos said
eagerly.

“I see you are eager to
complete our plans, patience, my friend. You’ll have Melissa in your grasp soon
enough. My, this is quite an obsession you have with her.

“We all have our little
hobbies,” Chaos said, “And just how do you purpose we capture Daemon’s
daughters anyway?”

“Ah, I was wondering when
you would inquire,” Quicksilver walked over to where they stored their
belongings and from within a chest, drew out a metal box, “A gift from beyond.
Daemon had these created just in case Melissa decided to betray her. I managed
to salvage them from the Hall before the Guardians reoccupied it.”

Quicksilver opened the
box and Chaos examined the articles within with interest, “Interesting
jewelry,”

“More than jewelry,”
Quicksilver lifted the bejeweled collar from the box. There were three
wristbands similarly decorated as well. “These will hold Melissa in a special
containment field rendering her powerless. Capture her and Hexadecimal is
certain to come to her rescue.”

“And how will we contain
her?”

“Once we have Melissa,
Hexadecimal will be at our whim,” Quicksilver said. “She won’t dare try
anything with her sister captive,”

“You’re kidding right? All’s
Hexadecimal would have to do is blow us into pixels.”

“With the threat of
deletion looming over her sister? I think not.”

“Do you think she’d let
us do anything--”

Quicksilver replaced the
collar and lifted one of the jeweled bracelets from the box, depressing a red
gem on its surface. The bracelet flew from Quicksilver’s grasp and to the utter
astonishment of Chaos, closed and locked around his wrist.

“What in the net are you
doing?” Chaos cried.

“The bracelet you wear is
connected to the bracelets and collar Melissa will be wearing. As you can see,
you don’t even have to be near Melissa to put the collar on.” Quicksilver said.
“If Hex tries to delete you, Melissa will also be instantly deleted.”

“That doesn’t sound like
I’m going to be safe and sound,” Chaos said, “And what if Melissa is
accidentally deleted? Does this thing work both ways?”

“Of course not,”
Quicksilver said exasperatedly. “I would advise however that you prevent her
from being deleted, otherwise you will be in mortal danger.”

“I’ve no desire to be
deleted either way you know.”

Quicksilver’s expression
turned deadly, “You should be willing to sacrifice yourself for the Glory of
Daemon.”

“I am,” Chaos huffed, “I
just wished it didn’t involve my deletion.”

“As I said, Hex will not
want to see her sister die a painful deletion so she will surrender herself.”